They've won 10 of 11. They've already swept one series on this homestand, with a chance to sweep another. They've reached the elusive .500 mark, with a chance to surpass it this afternoon. This is indeed a good time to be a National, or a baseball fan in Washington, enjoying the best run this team has gone on in six years.

For it to continue today, though, the Nats will need to cobble together some offense against a really tough rookie in Seattle's Michael Pineda. For the first time in two weeks, Jayson Werth won't be hitting leadoff; he's been bumped down to the 2-hole, with Roger Bernadina at the top of Jim Riggleman's lineup. Jason Marquis remains the No. 8 hitter, however, and will be in search today of his team-leading eighth victory.

It's a hot, muggy day in the District, with a chance of afternoon thunderstorms. If you're heading out to the ballpark, be sure to drink plenty of water. If you're stuck in the office, keep yourself tuned right here for updates throughout the game…

Did anyone hear the interview with Zim on 106.7 this morning? Sweet mother of Jesus, I wish these radio talk guys would learn something about baseball. (Zim was great–I would have walked out.) The opening day pre-game talk was insulting to any real baseball fan. And all these yahoos who are beginning to get on board now that the Nats are at .500 will drop away like dead flies when we have another losing streak–which we will. (All BB teams do, even the good ones!) I grew up in New York and Boston and heard a lot of baseball talk and saw and read a lot of great players and great games. Willie Mays at the Polo Grounds, for example, and Warren Spahn at Braves Field in Boston. But I have never heard as much ignorance about baseball as I have heard on DC radio. It's a shame, because instead of educating our young fans about the real game, we get this drivel. Sad.There are dozens of great books about baseball–George Will's for example, or Roger Angell's. They ought to send these guys to school to learn about the game. It's a beautiful game, and they treat it like rollerball.

RE OLDGUYCould not agree with you more. Those donks don't know anything about baseball. Maybe Charlie and Dave can get a 1 hour morning show on weekday mornings to spell the junkies, and talk nothing but Nats One can wish rightNATSFAN10

JaneB – from an older post – Bless You!! – the wave is never acceptable at a baseball game, there is always going to be something going on that could change the game. People need to understand that baseball is different and thanks for stopping that foolishness. My group up and around 308 seems to be pretty focused on enjoying the game.Oldguy – agree with you about our sports radio, its awful – unless it involves the Redskins (or Capitals as long as they are winning) thats all they care about. I think Lovero knows the game but he is a bitter old guy. Its a shame but I heard Kevin Sheahan say he has not played catch with his two boys and they are 10 and 12. What a wasted opportunity just to enjoy your kids. Missed Zimm but I am sure he was classy as they asked their stupid questions.Off to the stadium!!Go Nats

@ Oldguy, 11:19Sad but true. Almost anything of discussive value become bastardized by the popular media–witness political rants. Lack of training and/or lack of preparation, who knows??And don't get me started on how they handle religious and spiritual matters.Almost anyone of genuine understanding in their own area of professional endeavor will resent the ignorance of the so-called popular media—including ballplayers. No wonder players are reluctant to talk to the media unless they are professional sportswriters. Zim, obviously showed great discretion in the face of willful ignorance.Anyway, Gooooooooo Nats! They'll have their work cut out for them today against Pineda–a younger Roy Halladay.

JaneB… add me to the "BAN THE WAVE" crowd. No one who attends professional sporting events to watch the game wants to be anywhere near a "wave" (unless, of course it's a professional surfing event which requires the real thing).Belongs in the same category as "bang sticks" and "vuvuzelas" or whatever they're called.

Oldguy-I feel your pain, but I don't think that what you heard was a reflection of the media in DC or DC's attitudes towards baseball in general. I think what you heard was a refection of morning talk radio in general, and the sports junkies in particular. They don't do real, serious sports talk, they do lowest common denominator sports talk entertainment.I recall them doing a mildly amusing interview with Clippard a while back when they asked him if he wears his specs out to bars to pick up women.

FS–a lot of it was about Zim's charity event, and about Werth's $$ vs. his, and "Is it too early to talk playoffs?" Zim handled it all well. The same guys are still on and at the park right now.I agree that there are knowledgeable people about BB in DC. There are maybe 10-15K hard-core fans who really understand the game–the ones who are there every game or at least once in every series.One of the best games I attended was a Houston game about two years ago. Monday night. Drizzling rain, wasn't even sure the game would go on. Park had less than 10K fans, but they were all there for the team. Cheers louder than usual (we won) and you knew these were the real fans, not the fair-weather friends.We have a better record than CWS or LAA–let's hope the road trip is successful.

SC – Hadn't heard about Batista. Thanks.In other news of former Nats–the As have placed Josh Willingham on the DL. I'm sorry for him that it happened, but I'm not sorry it happened while he was wearing someone else's uniform.

For those who didn't notice, Steve Lombardozzi has jumped up to AAA Syracuse and is hitting .300 after three games. Will the Nats fill the two inside diamond positions with three men, is Desmond or Lombardozzi destined for a trade, or might Desmond be sent to centerfield?

I can't stand the generic sports talk radio that just wants to start a controversy for the sake of, well controversy. I will however stomach some of it if they have guests on who actually know what they are talking about, like Zim. It takes all kinds in the media world but would sure appreciate it if people would do their basic homework.

Yesterday, I commented that the game was more important than usual. The fact that the Nats won makes this game extra important as well, now. Not only would it be nice to go over .500, but it has to be a psychological boost to end a home stand with a sweep. The White Sox and the Angels are not patsies, so it is unrealistic to expect sweeps in either of the next two series. (But don't let that stop you from trying, guys!!) And if the interim target is .500+ at the All Star break, we need to make use of the Nats home field advantage while we can. Get those bats limbered up, Nats!!

12:17 p.m. — Meanwhile, the Oakland A's this morning placed Josh Willingham on the DL with an Achilles' tendon injury. Hate to say it, but that's right about on schedule, huh?Yep, Mark, those are true words and a shame though this year he didn't look like an April/May All Star. His defense isn't great also so the American League is perfect for him.With that said, I still thought the trade was light and the A's got the better deal. Expect Willingham to be traded on July 31st for prospects to a contender (maybe back to the Nats).

That is so not happening. Willingham is a starter and I do not see any room for him right now on our roster, unless we decide to platoon with him Nix for LF job which is kinda insulting to his talent. But if A's willing, they can have Brown back for Hammer. I liked the guy and wish him success. I think those catching duties with Marlins probably ruined his career.

Big Oil…. thanks for those links. I just read through last nites posts and man(!), I think they don't like Chone Figgins.And Eric Wedge isn't too far behind.I hope we don't become that cynical when we get 2 games back of the division lead.

We thought we got a bad deal when we signed Werth but Figgins makes him look like a bargain.Interesting comment above about us having a glut of middle infielders, and with Rendon on the way we may have more infielders then positions. Wouldn't that be a wonderful problem to have??? Hammer, well, he always seems like an injury waiting to happen. He can be a bat for a contender this year but it won't be us and I wish him well wherever he and his creaky back lands.

@NatsJack -No problem. I enjoy following other teams' blogs when we are playing them to get a sense of their strengths and weaknesses (when you can cut through the hyperbole). If nothing else it offers perspective.And yea, Figgins is a persona non grata there.

That's a pity about Josh. He was always a good player and was very nice to talk to after the game. But that's why we couldn't keep him, he just can't stay healthy. And ironically, Laynce Nix, his replacement, is also hurt with a Achilles tendon strain.

I challenge Mark's notion that no one is surprised that today's game is a pitching duel. Pineda is obviously very good. Marquis is not. Quite probably, the only reason Marquis has a good ERA this year is because his walks are down. Unless at age 32 Marquis learned some new skills, I doubt he will be able to keep this up the entire year. His walk rates have been climbing every month this year. He's going to blow up soon. Expect it.

Mark: I guess we all have our own expectations. And if any of us was constantly right, we would be rich.I expected the Nationals to get killed today. Sweeps are so improbable. Plus, I would expect the Mariners to be highly motivated to get a monkey of their backs considering the ways they have lost the last two games.

Sam – not sure why you say that about Marquis.k/9= career average (5.21 v 5.23)BB/9 > CA (2.4 v 3.45)HR/9 > CA (.63 v 1.09)GB% > CA (52.3% v 50.1%)BABIP well worse than his CA (.316 v. .286)So walks are down v career, and HRs also down, suggesting some regression. But BaBIP means he he has been unlucky on batted balls, which should regress the other way. There is nothing here that shouts out huge fall off in performance to follow.

I still get the uneasy feeling watching this team that if the other team scores first, on any given night, we might be toast. And boy do we strike out alot.C'mon boys, give Jason something to work with.

NatsJack in Florida said…So much for the superstitious… MASN just texted that Marquis has a no-no going.June 23, 2011 2:22 PM —————2:28 p.m. [Mark Z.]– Oh, well. So much for that. Marquis' no-hit bid comes to an end with one out in the sixth inning when Pineda bloops a single to center field. Yes, that's his first big-league hit

Come on man, are you serious? Couple of coaching decisions I did not like. You do not run on a Gold Glove arm, Franklin is known to have. Bases loaded with one out, maybe we should have tried squeeze bunt. And now Marquis hitting with two on and two out, bottom of the seventh. I mean come on, at best you will get one inning out of him.

I agree Exposremains, you need to pinch hit there, he already gave you 7 solid innings and 94 pitches. Just stupid! Only way a pitcher should stay to hit in that situation is if he can bunt a guy over a base. Just plain stupid!!!

Wally, the reason why I said what I said is that everything about Marquis is similar to previous years except that his walk rate is lower (and his HR rate). And I don't think he became a new pitcher all of the sudden. I think his walks will revert back, and he will be the same mediocre pitcher he has always been.

Sam said… I challenge Mark's notion that no one is surprised that today's game is a pitching duel. Pineda is obviously very good. Marquis is not. Quite probably, the only reason Marquis has a good ERA this year is because his walks are down. Unless at age 32 Marquis learned some new skills, I doubt he will be able to keep this up the entire year. His walk rates have been climbing every month this year. He's going to blow up soon. Expect it. June 23, 2011 2:00 PM _______________________________Pineda is a young stud, no doubt about it but to diss Marquis and what he has accomplished this year becomes a head scratcher. This guy has put up Halladay numbers for his team in which his team before today is 11-3 in Marquis starts. He may not look like an ace but I saw him outduel Cliff Lee on May 31st.

Sam – here is maybe where we disagree. I think that you are understating what Marquis has done in his career, and overstating how good he is doing this year. He is a career 4.5 ERA guy, which in today's post-PED world where scoring is down ~ 10%, translates to about 4.00. (If you take out his absolutely abysmal 2006, you can probably knock those numbers down by .25). Is he performing better than mediocre this year? yes, but not enormously so (35th in NL ERA), explained almost exactly by his walk, GB% and HR% improvements. Is there value to a mediocre (ie average) SP? Absolutely yes. Would you expect an average SP to perform well against a bad offense? Of course yes. 8 shutout innings may be more than I expected too, but I certainly expected him to do well.

FS, walks are a skill that pitchers control (for the most part), unlike, for example, where batted balls go. So, at age 32, I would expect that he wouldn't all of the sudden become a control ace. It's possible, sure, but I think the odds are against him.To whoever corrected me with my verb use with the word "any," you are incorrect. Sorry. "Any" refers to a singular entity, and, therefore, requires a singular verb.

WOW we almost did not have that one. LOL, thank you Carp for your crappy throw. Good thing we won.I thought Nix was not available. Anyways, glad he could pick us up.I remember Ray as O's closer. Poor guy used to be very good with them.

First win for Tyler Clippard this year. Wasn't Clip like 8 wins at this point last season?Also for stats, Espinosa deserves a hit on that 1st bunt that he got on! Should have been 2-4 and hope the official scorer changes it back to a hit.

Wally; I think the point with Marquis is this. When a player is putting up numbers which are better than what should be anticipated (and Marquis superficial numbers such as wins and ERA are better than we had a right to expect) you can do one of 2 things: 1) The Jim Bowden way which has been advocated by several posters which is to give him an extension therefore buying high. 2) Maximize his value by trading him to a team in a playoff race which needs a fair pitcher for it's 4th or 5th spot. This way you are selling high. I understand that most GM's aren't idiots and they also know that Marquis isn't Lincecum but don't under estimate the pressure to make a move at the deadline when you are right there in the hunt.

This is like a bad movie script. The coach resigns, right when the team is doing great. What now? the players will ask for Jim to be brought back? or is he preparing himself for Florida job. I seriously hope not.

Wow – I guess he didn't have as much leverage as he thought.Nationals manager Jim Riggleman has resigned.The Nationals jumped over .500 with a victory over the Mariners on Thursday afternoon and have won 11 of their last 12 games in an incredible and promising stretch of quality baseball. But Riggleman has decided to call it quits due to a rift with management over his unexercised option for 2012. It's a shocking turn of events. http://www.rotoworld.com/headlines/mlb/329857/jim-riggleman-resigns-from-winning-natsRizzo confirms it! Live on 980am

My guess is that Riggs has been embarrassed all along that he entered this year without a contract, and played a heavy hand. It is pretty unusual, especially with such a low $ amount. Rizzo basically said that Riggs demanded it be picked up, and he refused. Rizzo also seemed very uncomfortable the whole press conference.Should be some happy posters here. I am not one of them, though. I am mixed on Riggs, but this is embarrassing for the team, regardless how it is spun.

So, he gave him _one day_ notice?!?Isn't it usual that there's not progress on contracts until after the season? (Not that it's unusual, it's just that there is a significant number of folks who don't like to do contact stuff during a season).

commentators are starting to recover now -Phil Wood seems to be in support of riggs, saying this should have happened already. I feel sorry for the team – they have been playing their butts off – I really hope they can hang together. Now we will see if they are really a tight unit.

I stand corrected. Apparently, he's not as honorable as I thought. A contract is a contract. I can understand the organization has a priority to sign their draftees right now so, obviously, someone under contract right now, with 3 or 4 more months to go can wait till the end of the draft signing period to get something done.I've lost alot of respect for Riggs. And I sure don't want McClarren as an interim.

DC Wonk the answer is 24 hours, Riggs told Rizzo to pick up the option or he wouldn't be going on the road trip.Besides Bobby V., how about Davey Johnson, he works for the team and maybe he gets inspired by what happen in Florida.

I disagree on riggs being dishonorable – the fo has been dishonorable to him. He has done everything they have asked of him and gotten a lot out of this team – there is only so much disrespect you can take. I think you will see that they have had someone in mind all the time and they have been just letting him hang.

Selfish. That's all I can think. Your team is doing amazing and is finally coming together, and you give them one days notice and resign because they won't give you an EXTENSION? Really? Thought you were better than that, Riggs. This is the kind of stuff that can seriously screw up a team. Thanks for that.

"the fo has been dishonorable to him"Absolute BS.He has a contract and he's leaving the team in a lurch. Not getting your contract extended this early in the season is not an unusual occurence.Riggs might possibly have ended any possibility of him getting another managerial job in MLB.

Gotta be an interim guy from the current staff. Porter sounds like a good choice (if he'll take it: he refused it in Florida last year).Btw, if you were Rizzo and heard this before the game, (i) would you do it?, and (ii) if no, wouldn't you have figured out who was the interim guy so that you could at least avoid saying 'we'll make a decision by tomorrow's game?'My answers to my own questions – no, I wouldn't give in to the demand. I have managed a lot of people in my business career, and you can never give in to that kind of threat. Your credibility is gone. Now, I would have picked up the option a while ago to avoid this situation. Regardless of the views on Riggs, it is very unusual for a manager to be on a 1 year deal, and especially with it being such a low deal, I think that on balance they should have picked up his option at the beginning of the year. It also helps give the manager some cred with the players. Nevertheless, once there, you have to stick to your guns. And yes, I obviously would have spent the few hours that I had to come up with the interim guy. That just looks foolish.The truth is, each side looks bad here, to me.

Grandstander said… "In other news, Rick Ankiel and Matt Stairs have been given their unconditional release."Are you BSing us?We've already got the good news that Lindsay Czarniak is leaving WRC and Dan Snyder's lap to go to ESPN.

so – Matt Stairs gets to stay and Riggs is gone? Doesn't sound like Rizzo even broke a sweat to try to keep him. I think Riggs was right – they never planned on letting him keep this team once they were good – they were using him and stringing him along.

Many TV commentators have expressed shock that Riggs option had not been picked up. Rizzo's quote last week seemed to make it sound as if he could care less about getting it done any time soon. I think the FO has once again shown a lack of class by not picking it up and if Riggs had not had this conversation before toda,y then he was wrong also. But he waited till after the draft, knowing most important signings will not take place till August, and asked that it be addressed then Rizzo and the front office is very wrong. And do not think Bobby V. would manage here with all the decisions being made by the FO. We have lost a damn good manger today.

I can almost guarantee that Riggs wanted more than just the option picked up and that he wanted an extension. If that's the case, then no manager would re-sign for just a one or two year extension. He would probably demand a 3+ year extension, and while I'm pretty "meh" with Riggs as the manager, there is no way in heck I would ever extend him for 3+ years.So, if he did give an ultimatum, then I think Rizzo did the correct thing by not extending him.

Rizzo is really acting in a class-less way – I have lost respect for HIM today, not Riggleman. He has showed no respect for Jim at all and basically lied in his statement – Riggs did NOT SAY pick up the option today , he said have a conversation.He is acting like Riggs had no value to this team at all and it will make no difference who the manager is. We'll see.I guess this is how you show loyalty to your people.

The Lerners are just the worst cheapskates in all of sports. Bill Bidwell level cheap.Yep. And Werth, Strasberg, and Harper are all in agreement with you.Not.Riggs had a contract with an option year. Unless the contact said the option had to be exorcized by June 23, 2011 — he's doesn't seem to be standing on firm ground here.

riggs looks relieved that it's over. and i agree with him that he should get the respect that goes with a conversation about his contract. rizzo "it wasn't the time." how much time does it take? i think after getting back above 500 for the first june since 05 is a great time.

I put this on Riggleman…When you have the record that he has, you are in NO position to give ultimatums. The team is 38-37 this after losing 90 plus last year. I am sorry that he resigned, but I don't see this as Armagedon.

N. Cognito said… Since some of you people seem to think you know what's going on in the front office, please tell us what has transpired this season in talks between Rizzo and Riggs. Haters gotta hate.Good point, N.C. Something like this could be all the fault of one party, or the other, or part of both, or misplaced pride, or whatever — and unless we were flies on the wall, it's surely impossible, at least at this early time, to know.

This does not look good on the franchise. However attractive they made themselves look by making all this progress, do you think any impact free agent would be willing to overlook this sort of unstability?I want to know every detail of what happened from a credible source before I say anything. Don't want to look stupid.

Still blown away that Riggs felt strongly enough about it to make this decision. On Memorial Day, we had lost 8 of 9 and Riggs was on every media short list of managers likely to be fired. Rizzo did not fire him. We go on a wonderful hot streak and Riggs just can't go forward as manager without a decision on his future. Unbelieveable.

You can not blamce Rizzo. He can't be allow himself to be pushed around. Riggs had a contract. He had to stay the season. This is pretty absurd, pretty out there.Rizzo (it seems based on what we know now) could have made this go away by picking up the 2012 extension for $600K. Then can Rizzo at season end. And you still pay him the $600K and you still paid less than market value for a manager. But Rizzo could not cave in.Wonder how RIggs agent is feeling about this?

I really hope the players don't start taking sides in this the way all of us posters have. They are really going to be challenged to stick together and play ball. We've been saying that this is a high character team – I guess they will be further tested now. I really like this team and I am sure that this will be a tough road trip. I am personally going to stop taking sides and think good thoughts for the team. Let's all just get behind the guys and continue to cheer them on – let the bureaucrats figure out the rest.Go Nats – sweep the white sox! Ignore the talking heads and just play baseball!

Riggs crapped in his mess kit. He had nothing to lose by staying the rest of the season. Now he is unemployed with no income. He also walks away from his buyout if they didn't pick up his option for next season.

I think it is classless to take this winning streak and try to use it for your personal gain. Why didn't he do this 3 weeks ago? Because he'd have be laughed out of town. Yes, classless. And no, not a hater. Man I hate that term.

A DC Wonk said… "N. Cognito said…Since some of you people seem to think you know what's going on in the front office, please tell us what has transpired this season in talks between Rizzo and Riggs.Haters gotta hate.Good point, N.C. Something like this could be all the fault of one party, or the other, or part of both, or misplaced pride, or whatever — and unless we were flies on the wall, it's surely impossible, at least at this early time, to know."If someone knows of some promise Riggs isn't keeping (i.e. promised to make a decision by June 1st) I'll jump on the Riggs bashing bandwagon.

I can't believe the extension was the only issue. The guy is a baseball lifer, and from the area. You don't walk out on that over a contract alone.Well, I wouldn't.And let me be the first volunteer to fill in for the rest of the season!

We have to remember that the only folks with loyalty are fans. To the players, coaches and FO this is a business first, and formost. And in sports contracts have little meaning, it is all about what you have done for me today. I do not think they wanted to have Riggs come back, but couldn't be men about it and tell him. A bad day for those that are the loyal fans.

Ribuld said… "I think it's obvious Rizzo had no plans for Riggs to be anything more than a caretaker manager."Even if true, what's your point? Do you really think this doesn't happen on other teams? In other businesses?

I wish they had given the guy the respect he earned. Look what he has accomplished…without Zimm or Srrasburg! I think everyone knew he was being disrespected, and how do you manage like that? I didn't lose any respect for him. None at all. No Davey Johnson and no Bobby Valentine. I can't imagine what it's like for the players now.I wish Jim only the best, and I am grateful for what he was able to do to get these guys where they are.But Grandstand…I agree that Ankiel and Staires are history. A least I hope so.

Very bizarre. What a turn of emotions if you went to the game today. Exhilaration over the drama (again) in the 9th inning, then going to your car radio and turning on Charlie and Dave. I heard the "play of the game" then they switched very suddenly to Rizzo on the post-game conference talking about having accepted the resignation. Holy moly.PS Debbi Taylor is an abomination. Just thought I'd throw that in. She is an embarrassment to journalists everywhere. Riggleman blew off her inane question about having a 2-year contract, then Rizzo tried to be polite as she asked dopey questions. What is she doing on the air?

N. Cognito said…"Even if true, what's your point? Do you really think this doesn't happen on other teams? In other businesses?"It happens everywhere especially in sports. I guess it took Riggs this long to figure out he wasn't in the Nats long term plans. He felt dissed when Rizzo wouldn't talk to him and quit.If Rizzo had no use for Riggs he should have layed it on the line to Riggs instead of stringing him along.

Seems like Riggs is the kind of guy to build up a lot of anger without letting anybody see it. These guys who seem to be calm almost never are. In a different way (tension, not anger), cf. Willie Randolph.And speaking of ex-Mets managers – please, not Bobby Valentine, no, no, no, no, no. Not unless you like media grandstanding, general dishonesty and a tendency to throw his players under the bus. I lived with it in NY and I don't want to go through it again.Davey Johnson, I could deal with.Willie Randolph, I could deal with, though I have no sense he's a realistic possibility.

Jim Riggleman is a good guy that made a bad decision. He had a contract. He gave an ultimatum, or did he? It doesn't matter. He was under contract, Rizzo could not allow himself, or the team to give in to threats. Rizzo, and maybe the Lerners, didn't want to talk extension at this time. I think Jim is a great guy, but he does seem to take losing too graciously, not unlike a certain first basemen that Rizzo let walk. Personally, I never thought that Jim was the long term answer for the Nationals to win with.He made what seems to be a very terminal move for his future in baseball. I wish him luck. Who's next? The king is dead, long live the king! Whoever it is going to be!